Burrer.—Ornithology of New Zealand. 227 
encamped ai the edge of an extensive forest. * “#* * * . It was 
towards midnight, and though fast asleep, we were all awakened by this 
remarkably loud call!” 
If the accounts of the natives may be relied on, the members of this 
family possess, in common with the Megapodide of the Australian con- 
tinent, a very extraordinary habit of nidification—that of depositing their 
eggs in a mound of earth and leaves, and then leaving them to be hatched 
under heat produced by fermentation of the decaying vegetable matter. 
The natives agree further in the statement that in each of these vegetable 
mounds only one egg is deposited. 
The egg of Apteryx mantelli is considerably larger than that of a goose, 
and is of a creamy white colour. The recent discovery of a nearly perfect 
moa's egg in an old Maori sepulchre in the South Island, has enabled us to 
complete the following comparative statement of measurements :— 
Greatest Length. Greatest Breadth. 
Egg of Moa 91 inches 7 inches. 
2 Os ich LE 5 3 
» Emu 93s » 3x5 ” 
»  Apteryx Bads Boog 
» A Megapodius 9t , 21 ,, 
. Fam. CuangapRiAD.— The birds of this family are widely dispersed over 
the globe. Of the seven species inhabiting New Zealand, two are common 
to Australia— Charadrius bicincta and Hematopus longirostris—while another, 
C. aanthocheilus, extends its range to Norfolk Island. In the new genus 
Thinornis, our beautiful T. nove-zealandie is represented in the Auckland 
Islands by a closely allied one, Thinornis rossii. The others, all of which 
appear to be exclusively restricted to New Zealand, are C. obscurus, C. 
Jrontalis and Hematopus unicolor. 
Fam. Arperpx.—tThe stately white crane (Ardea flavirostris) takes a 
prominent place in this section. New Zealand is its restricted habitat, and 
its range is limited to the southern districts of the South Island. Occasion- 
ally a straggler finds its way to the North Island, but this occurs only at 
distant intervals, and “rare as the kotuku” is a favourite Maori proverb. 
A small slate-coloured heron (Ardea matook) inhabits our coasts, and the 
celebrated night heron of Australia (Mycticora caledonicus) is recorded as a 
straggler, a specimen having been killed some years ago in the neighbourhood 
of Wellington. 
Almost every region of the globe is tenanted by « one or more species of 
bittern. The one inhabiting New Zealand (Botawrus poicilopterus) possesses 
all the characteristics of the genus, and in its general appearance is not 
unlike the common bittern of Europe. 
